Lenders Scrutinize US Data Center Financing as Community Opposition Builds
The new parcel would add a $700 million structure as Rowan advances a six-data-center buildout and faces continued neighborhood opposition.
- Rowan Digital Infrastructure is seeking municipal approval for the Lasso Building, a sixth data center in Temple, with the Planning and Zoning Commission considering the application in August and city council hearings scheduled for September.
- After the city required the original site for landfill expansion serving the Temple area for more than 50 years, Rowan paused development and relocated the project to an approximately 300-acre adjacent parcel designated for industrial growth.
- Representing a minimum additional $700 million investment, the facility is part of Rowan's broader six-building footprint in Temple, which represents at least $4.2 billion in combined private investment and at least 120 full-time jobs.
- Elena Voytko of Temple Stands Together criticized the continued expansion, arguing that local officials "do not hear the people's voice" and calling for a freeze on all data center projects in the city.
- Lenders now weigh community sentiment alongside financial viability for data center projects nationwide, a trend underscored by research firm Data Center Watch reporting that at least 75 projects faced local opposition in the first quarter of 2026.
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16 Articles
Protests Against Data Centers Are Now Threatening $130 Billion of Big Tech's Crucial Investments
For protestors rising up against the data centers undergirding the AI boom, the math is simple: wherever they sprout, the facilities make frightfully poor neighbors — inflating utility prices, discharging hazardous waste, and blasting horrid noise at all hours of the night. For data center developers, there’s a different calculation to be made: namely, one of supply and demand around the seemingly infinite drive for computing power. Against the …
Navigating Community Opposition: The Financial Race in the U.S. Data Center Boom
The expansion of data centers across the U.S. faces increasing political and community resistance, prompting banks to add community concerns to their due diligence for project financing. Despite challenges, the sector garners significant investment interest due to its central role in cloud storage and AI infrastructure development.
Lenders magnify data center funding in the U.S. in the face of growing community opposition
Lenders scrutinize US data center financing as community opposition builds
Rowan Digital Infrastructure pursues final planned data center in Temple amid community opposition
Rowan Digital Infrastructure is moving forward with plans for a sixth and final data center in Temple, even as residents continue to push back against the company's growing footprint in the city.The Lasso Building would be the third and final structure in Rowan's Project Temple development, which currently has two buildings under construction. The proposed facility would sit on an approximately 300-acre site adjacent to Project Temple, on land d…
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